Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing lead a discussion on the key issues around decriminalising homelessness.

This event was organised in collaboration with Housing Rights Watch and María José Aldanas, Policy Officer at FEANTSA, opening the discussion.

During the event the Special Rapporteur presented, among others, the recent joint study “Breaking the cycle: Ending the criminalization of homelessness and poverty” (A/HRC/56/61/Add.3) which calls upon States and local governments to repeal vagrancy laws and legislation penalizing life-sustaining activities in public spaces, such as sleeping, living, begging or undertaking informal economic activities in public spaces.

The session ended with a Q&A with the audience.